From my experience of travelling up to London around commuter time, most of them do ‘rest their eyes’, from the moment they board the train to the moment it arrives. They also sit in the same seat every day, giving you a strange look if you’re there instead!

Six of us headed for the Trundle on Sunday. We didn’t quite make it to the top on account of poor weather but it was enjoyable nevertheless. Mama stopped abruptly at one point to take in the view and managed to be catapaulted off her bike onto her bum. Luckily, this took place in a grassy field.

I followed this up with an epic three hour tennis game. I took the first two sets easily, lost the next two, and then clawed my way back in the final set. Gruelling.

I’ve been asked by someone for blurb to accompany my pictures. Is this way over the top?????

“I call my paintings figurative representations. I think of them as energy depictions. This is the way I see the world, in deceptively simple, childlike shapes and bold, vibrant colours. Living creatures remain featureless, so as not to detract from what is being conveyed through form. The sun, the bringer of life, is a major player, as are horses and bicycles, two means of transport that can take humans into other worlds. Each picture tells a story. Twelve of my paintings have recently been made into a children’s book, called “A Year in the Life”.

C’rot just came back from a run down to the church. Her face was the purest vermillion.

After a brief session on the tennis court (6-1, 6-1, 6-3, since you ask) it was Ho for the Fontwell stables with Geoff as fellow bag holder/fork wielder. After filling sixteen or so old fertilizer bags with sweet smelling dung, we returned home and transported them to the bottom of the garden. Then I brushed out the back of the car, taking care to soil the bright red vehicle in our parking space. Much fun all round.

A most enjoyable day. I received many stupendous presents, including a nifty Tilley hat for wearing when the sunmer arrives, or we go to find it, and a 1kg bar of choc, which I’ve given myself a dispensation for, from the cravens, some halva and two plants from the Moomin, a tide table clock for helping us know when to swim, a fish pie Aga dish, a gruesomely sharp pruning saw and some book tokens from Granny. I crafted the lunch, a coconut creole curry, which wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. Tan made the cake. We watched Les Visiteurs. We also visited High Down Gardens and Jul passed his theory test.